5/30/2016

For years Shane Black has been trying to get off the ground a film about pulp hero, Doc Savage, but as he got busier (Marvel will do that to ya) it seemed less likely to happen. However, the success of Iron Man 3 opened up a world of opportunities, and while he recently took time out to direct The Nice Guys (which you didn't support, America!!), he's ready to jump back into the world of comic book heroes, and he just landed the guy he always wanted to play Doc Savage.

Over on his Facebook page Dwayne Johnson has confirmed he will star in Shane Black's Doc Savage film, which they are planning to shoot next year based on his recent comments. Yeah, Johnson has been teasing this news for a few days, so it's not completely surprising that he's now made it official. Black always wanted Johnson for the role of Clark "Doc" Savage, although for a brief spell it was Chris Hemsworth attached to play him.

Johnson went on to express his excitement at working with Black and writers Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry “to chop up creative and break story on this very cool project.” But he said the main reason he's pumped is that Savage is a "f*cking hilarious weirdo", which is pretty accurate. Henry W. Ralston and editor John L. Nanovic created Clark "Doc" Savage way back in 1933, pre-dating Superman and inspiring many of the Man of Steel's little details. The pulp hero is a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, musician, and researcher trained from birth to have near-superhuman abilities, which he uses to have incredible adventures. He operates out of the 86th floor of a skyscraper in New York City, but occasionally retreats to his "Fortress of Solitude" in the Arctic. Sound familiar?

This won't be the first time the character has been on the big screen, either, although it pretty much has to be better than the 1975 film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, starring Ron Ely.

So add this to the growing list of projects that will keep Johnson from getting any sleep for the next couple of years. Pretty sure he'll still find time to hit the gym, though. So look for this to get rolling in 2017 after Black finishes up with his Predator reboot/sequel, which just got moved up to February 2018.